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I'd like to offer a warm welcome to our new colleagues Kaveh Majlesi, Mallory Avery, Sebastiano Della Lena, and Krisztina Orban (next month). And I look forward next year to the arrival of Quoc-Anh (QA) Do.
Unfortunately, there are also some goodbyes. Jeff LaFrance and Gennadi Kazakevitch have both retired following many years of distinguished service. Giovanni Caggiano will be departing and returning to Italy in March for family reasons. We are fortunate that Jeff, Gennadi and Giovanni all plan to maintain continuing affiliations with the department as adjunct or honorary colleagues.
The saddest goodbye is of course to Leo Simon, who passed away suddenly in January. Leo was a native Melburnian, and he had returned home for a portion of each year with a Monash affiliation after a long career at Berkeley. Leo was a generous colleague, a great economist, and a dear friend to many, including me. He will be sorely missed.
After two long years of pandemic lock-downs and closed campuses, we look forward in 2022 to reconnecting with colleagues and students, live on campus.
The department is in very good shape for the future, with excellent financials, ever-improving research performance, and some of the best teaching at Monash.
This has been a collective effort, so thanks to everyone who made it possible. It is a privilege to work with such wonderful colleagues at Monash Economics.